Equine assisted therapy at Cedarwood Farm in Ipswich, MA is a program for teens at risk. In the fall, I was struggling with grief due to the loss of a friend. The grief was all consuming and impacted my personal and academic life. Ms. Starrett, my guidance counselor at IHS, thought I would benefit from learning from and working with horses. I was hesitant at first because I had a fear of horses and was nervous to be around a horse, but my mother knew that I was in pain and she convinced me to say yes. Saying yes was a great decision.
In the program we learned how to measure horses; we learned how to feed them, and we learned how to groom the horses. The biggest thing we learned is how to regulate our emotions so the horses understood what we wanted them to do; we also learned that respect goes both ways. If a horse doesn’t want to do something then don’t force the task and just try something else. I got the privilege of working with the owner’s horse Hunter. He is very set in his ways and will question everything.
This program really helped me because I found myself always checking my emotions before going to the barn. Another thing that I found helpful was talking to Hunter and getting my thoughts and feelings out. I noticed that when I talked to Hunter it made me feel like I finally had someone to listen to me. Even though he couldn’t give me advice, it still was nice to talk to him.
I not only worked with Hunter but I worked with the minis that the farm had. Their names are Fluff, Romeo, and Pixie. Each of them have their own personalities. Fluff is very dependent on Pixie and gets very upset when Pixie is away from him. Pixie is trying to not be as attached to Fluff. I write this because it is clear that some of the horses at the barn need help too. All of the minis lived nomadic lives, being constantly sold through auctions. They have never really seen a nice hand. What the program does is provide a service for both the horses and humans. The horses that I work with all need rehabilitation in some form or another. It becomes therapy for everyone except there isn’t much talking about your feelings unless you want to.
Hunter’s story is a little different; he was a teacher for kids who were learning how to ride. He did that for about 13 years before he started bucking kids off of his back. He has arthritis in his back, so for a while he was letting kids on his back while in pain and then he stopped. We all have our limits.
The program is no longer available due to the program leader not receiving any grants and loans to make the program possible. As far as I know right now he is trying to start up a business for this specific program to help kids, teens, and adults at risk. If anyone has any questions or comments or concerns email me at [email protected] and I will reach out to the program leader for more information.
